PEOPLE are saying that the RBS Six Nations Championship is all over bar the cheering, and that the script for the final scene can already be written. But this is no rom-com movie where the characters are outlined at the start — the cad and the nice guy, the good sort and the flirt. We know there will be mischief and misunderstandings in the middle section, but none will be of much consequence, since the whole matter will follow its course and be settled happily in the way we had understood from beginning.
But the Six Nations resembles more the kind of mystery fiction favoured by the erudite Baroness James of Holland Park, who knows how to manipulate while gradually unravelling the intricate puzzle to spring a thumping surprise at the end. So it is for the Championship. The unanticipated intervention invariably comes to pass before the end. The favourite falls when least expected.
England know full well what it is like to have the unbargained-for bolt from the blue. They can look back to a whole series of them in the past decade as the Celts sought revenge in Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff, not forgetting the French in Paris. Many a time did the Grand Slam slip between cup and lip. So, who knows.
To add to this there is the strange conclusion, now that England and France have played out a match of such ineptitude at Twickenham last Sunday, that the Championship has somehow been devalued. This is a bit premature, is patronising of other teams and dismissive of the Championship as a whole.
I suggest that the Championship is only now getting into its proper stride.
Advertisement
So far, Ireland and Wales have been good value. Both nations have provided the kind of pacy rugby so lacking in the play of those who are normally considered the front-runners. It is healthy and desirable that the talk is not only of England and France but of others and that this season the spread of interest is wider.
Hitherto, both England and France have lacked subtlety and elasticity of movement. Apart from England’s two tries, both teams also looked cumbersome and fearful. “Lacking ambition” are the words often attached to France in their present mood. Quite what this means I am not sure. They did after all win at Twickenham for the first time since 1997. Was not that their ambition?
However, it was difficult to see what they were attempting to do other than reach a position where Dimitri Yachvili could have a chance at goal. They might care to expand when next in Paris.
Even stranger is the absence of a firm and consistent partnership at half back. This is odd. Like the Irish and the Welsh especially, the French have an extravagant fondness for fly halves and can always rely on finding them. At the moment, there is an absence of a controlling influence in the position. Indeed, it is a critical area for both England and France. Many of their problems might be resolved by acquiring a player of distinction here.
If England retain up-front power they are, at the moment, uncertain how to use or direct it. That injuries have dogged them in critical areas has added to their woes and the absence of a goalkicker has proved costly. Time is likely to restore these links. In the meantime, by not playing to what is left of their strengths, survival is the name of their game.
Advertisement
Much will depend on Andy Robinson keeping a cool head and reflecting on his selection choices. The handling of Henry Paul and Mathew Tait raises a question or two.
There was once a whole host of one-cap wonders, so-called. Being chosen to play on a single occasion is less a reflection on the player than on the selector who chose him. If a player is thought good enough to be chosen once for his country, then he is good enough for more. If not, then the initial judgment is flawed.
England and France are sleeping giants of this tournament, and both have to wake up soon as they have to visit Lansdowne Road. They will go there knowing what to expect. There is no mystery there, but can England or Ireland turn the Championship into one?